Editor's Note

Putting a Good Idea to Work

One of this year’s tries that really paid off.

Published

4 months ago

December 22, 2023

Mark Kissling Signs of the Times December 2023 Issue

WITH CONSTANT DEMANDS to create content, sometimes I crave routine tasks where I “don’t have to think too much” and can “rest my creative mind.” Earlier this year, after our digital content editor left the company, I took on many of his responsibilities, among which was writing our five-times weekly “bulletin” e-newsletter. Unable to find much time to work that in, I faced little choice but to arrange a schedule, which for example, would always include our Calendar in the first newsletter of a new issue’s month.

This reduced the task simply to plugging in the new column, feature and department posts scheduled for the same days monthly. It’s something that’s definitely worked for me this year. To check our newsletter out, sign up in less than a minute at signsofthetimes.com/bulletins.

As everyone prepares to bid farewell (or good riddance) to 2023, we asked our Brain Squad what worked for them this year and what didn’t. As always, their responses vary and illuminate. Among the most inventive is finding new employees by working with a recovery facility. “They are very closely monitored; they are on time and motivated,” says Jasper Burton from Cuerden Sign Co. in Conway, AR, adding, “They deserve an opportunity to be contributing members of society.”

Other hits (and misses) involve training, systems and technology, products and services and more. If you’d like to share a new thing you’re trying at your sign company in 2024, let us know at editor@signsofthetimes.com.

5 Smart Tips from This Issue

High-speed printers get you in the game for tighter job deadlines. (Tech Products)
Integrate aesthetics and decoration into your architectural signage. (The Art of Architectural Signs)
Empower, train and put employees in the “right seats.” (What’s Worked In 2023 and What Hasn’t)
Recognize the many deleterious effects of multitasking for both employees and managers. (Heidi Tillmanns)
Find out how quoting less can actually win more jobs for your company. (Maggie Harlow)

Introducing the Sign Industry Podcast

The Sign Industry Podcast is a platform for every sign person out there — from the old-timers who bent neon and hand-lettered boats to those venturing into new technologies — we want to get their stories out for everyone to hear. Come join us and listen to stories, learn tricks or techniques, and get insights of what’s to come. We are the world’s second oldest profession. The folks who started the world’s oldest profession needed a sign.